Sunflower Seed Cookies with Chocolate Chips

• dairy-free spread
• coconut oil
• banana
• golden caster sugar
• a pinch of salt
• vanilla extract
• plant milk
• flax seeds
• baking soda
• baking powder
• jumbo oats
• sunflower seeds
• plain gluten-free flour mix
• cocoa powder
• dairy-free chocolate chips

Equipment

• oven + lined oven trays
• 2 mixing bowls
• electric hand mixer
• spatula

How to make these sunflower seed cookies

Prep

As with lots of cookie recipes, we’re starting with preheating the oven. For this recipe, I’ve chosen a temperature of 175C (347F) in my fan-assisted oven, which is perfect to get these cookies crisp on the outside, without making them dry. 

Mixing the batter

To mix the batter for the sunflower cookies, we’re combining the dairy-free spread and coconut oil in a large mixing bowl first and then we’re creaming it with an electric hand mixer. This should usually take 1-2 minutes and the mix should be buttery, light and fluffy. Into this creamed butter, we then add our mashed banana, golden caster sugar, salt, vanilla, and plant milk and mix it all until thoroughly combined. 

For the rest of the ingredients, we’re using a separate bowl – that way we ensure that the dry ingredients are well mixed before combining them with the wet mix and avoid any lumps in our batter later down the line. In this second mixing bowl, we combine the flaxseed, baking soda, baking powder, jumbo oats, sunflower seeds, gluten-free flour, and cacao powder. Once all stirred together well, let’s slowly add the mixture into the bowl with the wet ingredients and give it a good stir to combine everything.

Finally, we sprinkle in the chocolate chips and fold them in with a spatula. If you’re not adding chocolate chips to your cookies, then omit this step. 

Resting time

Before our batter is ready, we need to set it aside for roughly 15 minutes. During this time all of the ingredients will come together into a firm, scoopable batter and the oats in the recipe will soak up the chocolate-y flavours just beautifully. Use the time to line 2 baking trays with non-stick baking parchment. 

Shaping the cookies

Once the resting time elapses, use 2 teaspoons to scoop your cookies onto the baking trays. The batter should make roughly 20-24 cookies, depending on how big you make them. Gently scoop them out and give them a slightly round shape with the back of a spoon, if you want them to look perfect. 

Baking + cool down

Transfer the cookies to the oven and bake at 175C (347F) for 25 minutes. They should be slightly golden on top, but not too dry. Remove the trays from the heat and set them at room temperature. Allow the cookies to cool down completely before carefully removing them from the baking tray. They are usually still soft to the touch when coming straight out of the oven and need to cool down to firm up first. 

Storage

You can eat all of the cookies right away (that would be me!) or store them in an air-tight container in the fridge and enjoy them alongside a delicious cuppa!